Lev S. Vygotsky's Theory

Lev S. Vygotsky (1896-1943) was a Russian theorist (Crain, 1992). Vygotsky’s death at the young age of 37 put an end to his research (Ivic, 1994). The following essay attempts to firstly discuss the role of social factors in development, secondly the importance of psychological tools in mental development and thirdly the differences between school knowledge and everyday knowledge in relation to schooling. These topics are interrelatedly discussed within the essay below.
Vygotsky chose to create this theory along Marxist lines (Crain, 1992). Vygotsky used some of the ideas of Karl Marx and he then built on it (Crain, 1992). Marx’ theory suggested that human have biological needs and use tools. Vygotsky built on Marx’ theory in the sense that

Thinking and speech is a psychological tool that we use to communicate with others. Vygotsky says that there is a relationship between thinking and speech. There are four stages in the relationship between thinking and speech. We spend our entire lives on the basis of everyday and scientific concepts also knows as every day and school knowledge. Young children do not fully understand concepts the same way that adults do, as they would use a word but in a different context as to what an adult would understand. The way in which children understand words and meanings develop as they grow.
We should keep in mind that when a child uses a word they understand it in a different way than we do and when they ask for the meaning, they often want the simplest meaning. Vygotsky was interested in the development of concepts that children develop spontaneously compared to scientifically. Vygotsky believed that every day and scientific concepts was the most important transition for children to have. Vygotsky did not refer to the term scientific as science but rather as concepts that have been learned (Crain,

(1992). Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications. (Third Edition). Eaglewood Cliffs, New Jersey. (Chapter 10: Vygotsky’s Social-Historical Theory of Cognitive Development).
Ivic, I. (1994). Lev S. Vygotsky. Prospectus: The Quarterly Review of Comparative Education. Vol XXIV N.3/4 p.471-485
Karpov, Y.V. (2003). Vygotsky’s Doctrine of Scientific Concepts: Its Role for Contemporary Education. In A. Kozulin, B. Gindis, V.S. Ageyev, and S.M. Miller (Eds.) (2003). Vygotsky’s Educational Theory In Cultural Context. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press
Miller, R. (2011) Vygotsky in Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Van der Veer, R. (1998). From Concept Attainment to Knowledge Formation. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 5(2), 89-94
Van der Veer, R. (2007). Lev Vygotsky. London: Continuum Publishing Group*
Vygotsky, L.S. (1986). Thought and Language. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press (Chapter 6- “The Development of Scientific Concepts in